Soldier's sentence divides his hometown

Jeff Cosey had a longtime goal to climb a tower in Marion, Franklin County.

It was Pfc. Jesse Spielman who held the ladder for him.

Spielman, 23, who prosecutors said stood watch while his fellow soldiers raped a 14-year-old Iraqi girl and then killed her family, was the guy Cosey called to shoot pool or see a movie when he was bored. Spielman's favorites were "Scarface," "The Godfather" and "The Boondock Saints."

Spielman married his high school girlfriend just before shipping out to Iraq in August 2005, Cosey said. Friends said he enlisted so he could support his family and talked about having a child when he returned.

"He was a great guy," Cosey said. "Never insulted or harmed anyone. Never had any enemies. Everyone who knew him was a good friend with him. Really funny."

Spielman was sentenced to 110 years in prison Saturday on charges of rape, conspiracy to commit rape, housebreaking with intent to rape and four counts of felony murder. Military prosecutors contend Spielman did not participate in the rape or murders but knew what the others planned to do and served lookout.

Spielman, who will be eligible for parole after 10 years, took the stand to petition jurors for leniency before he was sentenced.

"I don't really blame my chain of command. I don't really blame anybody," he said quietly. "I could have stopped it. I take responsibility for my actions.

Three other soldiers pleaded guilty for their roles in the attack and were given sentences ranging from 5 to 100 years. Sgt. Paul E. Cortez, one of the convicted soldiers, testified that Spielman was within a few feet of the others as they held down the screaming girl.

Spielman had pleaded guilty last Monday to lesser charges of conspiracy to obstruct justice, arson, wrongfully touching a corpse and drinking.

Spielman's story has divided Chambersburg, his hometown, about 55 miles southwest of Harrisburg in Franklin County, between sympathy and disgust.

"I think he deserves what he got," said Richard Hostter, 67.

"He did not do the crime," said Terry Hess, a resident for 6 years. "He's being punished for something he did not do."

Jean Harshman, a Clay Hill resident for 34 years, agreed.

"It sounds like he's kind of being railroaded," Harshman said as she enjoyed the warm weather at the Marion auto show. "I just don't think it's true."

Several townspeople with military backgrounds said they can't imagine what they would have done in Spielman's shoes.

Brian Mohler, 50, said he never encountered anything similar while serving in the Marine Corps in the 1970s.

"[Spielman] probably has to be punished some way to keep the public satisfied and the heat off the government, but I'm sure there's more going on at higher levels," he said.

Because of the military culture, Spielman likely didn't have much of a choice, said Bob Meeder, 59, who served in the Navy during the Vietnam era.

"I think he was pushed into the situation," he said. "If he would have tried to do something about it, the other soldiers would have killed him."

But every soldier William Matson knew in his 17 years in the Army knew his limits, he said, even the ones he saw doing a lot of stupid things.

He once walked into a bar to see fellow soldiers in a fight -- and quickly left the bar, he said.

"I'd have walked away from it, the whole situation," he said.

"[Spielman] had a life to live, and now he's not going to," said Matson's wife, Paula. "If he had been smarter, he would have walked away from it."

Spielman's friends see him as a victim of politics.

Cosey, a West Chester University student who was Spielman's best man at his wedding, said the military is "throwing the book at these guys and saying, 'Hey, look, we're policing our own.' "

"I think it's mostly political," said David Dayhoff, 22, who became friends with Spielman in high school.

"I think they feel they had to make an example of someone for Iraqi relations to improve."

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